updated 05:55 am EDT, Wed March 28, 2012

Sony pulls another PSP game to stop PS Vita hacks

Sony has pulled Everybody's Tennis from the PlayStation Store in response to a potential new PS Vita hack, making it the second title to be removed in the past two weeks. As with Motorstorm: Arctic Ice, which was removed in early March, installation of the game on the PS Vita allows hackers to exploit a vulnerability in the PSP emulator allowing homebrew software to be installed on the handheld console.

Prior to the removal of the apps from the PlayStation Store, PS Vita owners who had previously purchased the games for download to their PSP's had the opportunity to re-download them from the cloud without incurring any additional charges. However, Sony did not give users any advance warning about the removals, appearing to favor an approach that has placed taking aim at potential game piracy on the PS Vita first and foremost -- piracy was rampant on the PSP platform, particularly in Japan, and is one of the reasons Sony introduced a proprietary removable memory format for the PS Vita.

The same Wololo.net hackers responsible for exploiting the flaw in Motorstorm, using the Vita Half Byte Loader (VHBL) exploit, were also responsible for finding and exploiting a similar vulnerability in Everybody's Tennis. The hackers on the site argue that their hack will not permit the pirating of PS Vita titles, but it seems Sony is not taking any chances. Despite this, the Wololo hackers believe that they have several other potential exploits for PSP titles using VHBL.

If Sony's recent actions are any guide, PS Vita users who may have any remaining PSP game titles compatible for download to the console may be well-advised to re-download those now or risk losing any access to them altogether. [viaars technica]